Euro ’20 – Fans urged to support each other by sharing Drink-Driving messages and planning ahead

It’s a time of huge celebration for football fans. Lockdown has made it difficult to find much to get excited about, but lots of us are looking forward to Euro ’20 – it’s something for everyone to enjoy. It’s important that we all pull together to keep ourselves and each other safe while we’re celebrating.  Wherever you’re cheering the side on from, if you’re drinking, we need to make sure we work as a team so that everyone gets home safely.

If you or a friend might want to have a drink:

• book a taxi in advance
• decide who is going to be the designated driver in your group
• arrange for someone to pick you up

If you are worried that someone might drink and drive on the night, you can step-up and offer to be their designated driver.

Try reminding them that it isn’t worth the cost:

A driver over the limit ‘in charge’ may be disqualified for 12 months, fined up to £5000 and even face up to 6 month in prison. A court may also order a driver to forfeit their vehicle. They can be deemed ‘in charge’ if they have the keys to the vehicle and are nearby (not necessarily inside the vehicle). They must show that there was no likelihood of their driving the vehicle whilst they were drunk.

Police will be especially vigilant and on the lookout for people driving under the influence of alcohol and issuing road side breathe tests. Even if you are aware of how many units of alcohol you have consumed or you’ve used drinks measures, everyone processes alcohol differently – meaning that if you are stopped by the police and breathalysed you could still be over the limit, so it’s best not to drink if you think that there’s a possibility you might need to drive.

Let’s celebrate the Euros safely and make it a win for everyone.